Broncos Sweep Seawolves, Advance to CCAA Semifinals
LOS ANGELES – The Cal Poly Pomona volleyball team rolled through their CCAA Quarterfinal matchup against Sonoma State on Thursday night, sweeping the Seawolves in three sets to advance to the semifinals against No. 9 Cal State San Bernardino. With the win, they improve to 21-6 on the season and 4-0 in neutral locations.
The Broncos dominated Sonoma State, winning all three sets by scores of 25-21, 25-18, and 25-18. Down 20-16 in the first, CPP scored seven consecutive points coming on three errors by SSU. Another attack error and a kill by Alexia Athans would close out the first set in favor of the Broncos. They would go on to win both the second and third sets, only ever trailing by one point for the remainder of the match.
Setter Caitie Mueller notched her 1,000th assist of the season on Thursday night, making her the third player in CPP volleyball history with back-to-back 1,000 assist seasons. The only other two to reach that mark are Casey Gregg (1994-1995) and Emily Kennedy (2002-2005). Kennedy, CPP's all-time assist leader with 4,936, collected over 1,000 assists in all four years she played. Mueller's 2,036 career assists currently ranks 11th all-time, despite only being in her second season with the Broncos.
— Cal Poly Pomona Broncos (@cppbroncos) November 17, 2023
The Broncos' 36 kills was their second-lowest of the season, but with the defense playing strong, it was enough for the win. Junior Madison Novak was the lone Bronco to pick up double-digit kills with 12, while swinging at an impressive .440 clip. Daisy Duke and Samantha Campion had seven and six, respectively, while middle blockers Kaitlan Tucker and Alexia Athans both had five. Athans had five blocks in the game, tying her second-most of the season.
Campion and Emily Payne each had multiple service aces, while Campion and Avery Percival both racked up double-digit digs.
Up Next
The No. 4 seed Broncos will face No. 1 seed Cal State San Bernardino in the CCAA Semifinals tomorrow, November 17th, at 5:30 PM. The winner will advance to the CCAA Tournament Championship on Saturday at 3:00 PM. Despite being 2-8 in their past ten matchups against the Yotes, the Broncos' two wins came in the CCAA Tournament and the NCAA Regionals last season, eliminating CSUSB from both tournaments. Tomorrow they look to make it three straight postseason victories.
Bronco Bits
- The Broncos are now 29-29 (.500) all-time against Sonoma State and are 6-4 in their past 10 matchups.
- Traci Dahl is now 76-33 (.697) as head coach of the Broncos. She has led CPP to three consecutive 20-win seasons.
- Caitie Mueller notched her 1,000th assist of the season on Thursday night, making her the third player in program history to have back-to-back 1,000 assist seasons.
- The Broncos now have 14 sweeps in 2023, tying the team record for most in a season – which has been done three times in 2005, 2018, and 2021.
Latest Women's Volleyball
- CCAA Joins FloSports in Historic Media Rights AgreementFloSports, a leading global sports media company, and the CCAA, the most successful NCAA Division II conference with 156 National Championships, have entered into an exclusive multi-year, seven-figure media rights agreement to begin this Fall.
- 53 Broncos Recognized in CCAA Fall Academic Honor RollCal Poly Pomona saw 53 student-athletes named to the 2023 CCAA Fall Academic Honor Roll on Tuesday, ranking second in the conference behind only Cal State Monterey Bay. A record 551 men and women across the CCAA's 12 member institutions were honored.
- CPP Athletics Launches New WebsiteFor the first time since 2019, the Cal Poly Pomona Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has launched a redesign of BroncoAthletics.com. In partnership with SIDEARM Sports powered by Learfield, the new website went live on Wednesday morning.
- Duke, Campion, and Mueller Named All-AmericansDaisy Duke, Samantha Campion, and Caitie Mueller continued to rack up accolades for the 2023 season, this time earning the most notable individual award of them all: All-American.
- Fall Sports Dominate 2023 Season, Highest Winning Percentage in CPP Athletics HistoryThe five intercollegiate sports that compete during the fall season – men's cross country, women's cross country, men's soccer, women's soccer, and women's volleyball – dominated their respective 2023 seasons, combining for one of the winningest falls in Cal Poly Pomona Athletics history.
- Broncos’ Season Ends With Close Battle in Regional SemifinalsThe Cal Poly Pomona volleyball team fell to Cal State San Bernardino by a score of 3-1 in the NCAA West Region Semifinals on Friday night, ending their 2023 campaign with an overall record of 22-8.
